Ship times for 21.5" iMac slips to 2-3 weeks on US Apple Online Store

The U.S. Online Apple Store is now quoting estimated shipment dates for the 21.5-inch iMac at two to three weeks, suggesting supply constraints of the redesigned all-in-one continue over a month after the first units reached customers in November.

The increased ship-by estimates come less than a week after Apple's UK online store saw an identical slip, with previous delivery dates of 7 to 10 business days falling to 2 to 3 weeks.

A report earlier on Friday cited a Chinese news source as saying Taiwanese component suppliers improved production rates of the new iMacs, with mass production of the desktops supposedly ramped up in December of 2012. In Apple's recent quarterly earnings conference call for the first fiscal quarter of 2013, CEO Tim Cook said iMac supply would increase significantly over the coming weeks, but warned that "very strong" demand may keep the company from reaching an optimal supply balance until the second quarter.

Supply issues were first seen in early January, when AppleInsider was first to report that Apple's reseller channel was seeing stockouts of the 21.5-inch iMac model.

Thought to be a culprit in the slow iMac production rates is the complex screen lamination process Apple is using to reduce the desktop's overall thickness. Suppliers were reportedly having problems implementing the technology, leading to low yields. Production was thought to be especially poor with the 27-inch model, which as of this writing is sitting at a ship time of 3 to 4 weeks.

According to Apple, iMac supply constraints were to blame for a 17 percent drop in Mac sales for the last quarter. For the three-month period ending in December, Apple sold 4.1 million Mac desktops and laptops, down from 4.9 million units from the previous quarter and 5.2 million units from a year ago.

Ship times remain long. Apple can't keep up with supply. Apple is doomed.

Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.

If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.

I think that Apple needs to, going forward, be more realistic in pacing new product introductions so as to get demand and supply in better balance. Maybe it's just my perception, but the problem somehow seems to be growing worse every year (it started to get really noticeable with the iPhone 4) -- I don't ever recall Peter Oppenheimer going on along the lines of the (I am paraphrasing) "missing 1.1 million Macs, of which 700,000 were lack of iMacs because of supply problems" before in a conference call with analysts. (My reaction, listening to that, was 'fix the damn problem.').

I have a feeling that, given its scale and aggressive global new product introduction reach, supply chain issues are seriously beginning to crop up. And perhaps it's only going to get steadily worse.

It could be, in part, because there isn't a good enough "Tim Cook" equivalent paying the kind of attention that Tim Cook was, when Jobs was doing Cook's current job. With all that being a CEO entails, Cook himself is perhaps not able to provide the kind of operations oversight at which he was once so masterful.

I think that Apple needs to, going forward, be more realistic in pacing new product introductions so as to get demand and supply in better balance. Maybe it's just my perception, but the problem somehow seems to be growing worse every year (it started to get really noticeable with the iPhone 4) -- I don't ever recall Peter Oppenheimer going on along the lines of the (I am paraphrasing) "missing 1.1 million Macs, of which 700,000 were lack of iMacs because of supply problems" before in a conference call with analysts. (My reaction, listening to that, was 'fix the damn problem.').

Yup.

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

I have a feeling that, given its scale and aggressive global new product introduction reach, supply chain issues are seriously beginning to crop up. And perhaps it's only going to get steadily worse.

Perhaps Apple is asymptotically approaching the limit of available skilled labor. The more iPhones, iPads they make, the less they are able to deliver difficult to manufacture Macs

Quote:

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

It could be, in part, because there isn't a good enough "Tim Cook" equivalent paying the kind of attention that Tim Cook was, when Jobs was doing Cook's current job. With all that being a CEO entails, Cook himself is perhaps not able to provide the kind of operations oversight at which he was once so masterful.

Perhaps. But deciding to launch the iMac before it was production ready was a decision made at the executive level of management. Did they launch it prematurely because Tim Cook's replacement misled his boss into believing everything was ready? Or did they become so complacent that they believed they could fix everything on the fly? I can't help but think that they brought this on themselves, and could have delayed the launch by 3 months. As it was, they took the unusual tact of launching it well after announcing it. Don't remember the last time there was such a delay with a Mac.

I think that Apple needs to, going forward, be more realistic in pacing new product introductions so as to get demand and supply in better balance. Maybe it's just my perception, but the problem somehow seems to be growing worse every year (it started to get really noticeable with the iPhone 4) -- I don't ever recall Peter Oppenheimer going on along the lines of the (I am paraphrasing) "missing 1.1 million Macs, of which 700,000 were lack of iMacs because of supply problems" before in a conference call with analysts. (My reaction, listening to that, was 'fix the damn problem.').

I have a feeling that, given its scale and aggressive global new product introduction reach, supply chain issues are seriously beginning to crop up. And perhaps it's only going to get steadily worse.

It could be, in part, because there isn't a good enough "Tim Cook" equivalent paying the kind of attention that Tim Cook was, when Jobs was doing Cook's current job. With all that being a CEO entails, Cook himself is perhaps not able to provide the kind of operations oversight at which he was once so masterful.

Maybe, but if they do that, the story will be:
Apple new product introductions slow down. Apple is doomed.

Ship times remain long. Apple can't keep up with supply. Apple is doomed.

Of course, if the ship times decreased, demand is falling and Apple is doomed.

If the ship times remained unchanged, productivity is not improving. Apple is doomed.

Do you ever have anything to contribute to the conversation besides your tongue in cheek "Apple is doomed" nonsense? Maybe it was funny a couple months ago, to god knows who, but now it's just gotten ridiculous. We get it, you're a master of dry sarcasm. Accept this slow clap, and change up the routine.

Perhaps. But deciding to launch the iMac before it was production ready was a decision made at the executive level of management. Did they launch it prematurely because Tim Cook's replacement misled his boss into believing everything was ready? Or did they become so complacent that they believed they could fix everything on the fly? I can't help but think that they brought this on themselves, and could have delayed the launch by 3 months. As it was, they took the unusual tact of launching it well after announcing it. Don't remember the last time there was such a delay with a Mac.

What's disturbing to me about this debacle is Tim Cook's much lauded claim to fame was his status and skill as "the logistics guy." This is three launches now under his watch that have been unable to meet demand because the production process just wasn't ready. He can blame anyone he wants, but if he was truly the "logistics guy" everyone says he is, this nonsense should have been nailed down before these products went on sale.

Do you ever have anything to contribute to the conversation besides your tongue in cheek "Apple is doomed" nonsense? Maybe it was funny a couple months ago, to god knows who, but now it's just gotten ridiculous. We get it, you're a master of dry sarcasm. Accept this slow clap, and change up the routine.